McMonigle Analyzes Tony Romo’s Health Statement and CBS Future

**Craig Carton** (0:00)
All right, let's go. What do we got? 328 SMY will be joining us shortly today at 330 I've been made well aware of that.
So, if I forget in the next minute, it's not Pete's fault, so don't bother him in the meetings, all right? Leave him alone. Golly, poor Pete and Gallo, sitting there taking flack from SMY because I didn't say hello.

**Chris McMonigle** (0:22)
Kind of brought it up on his own.

**Craig Carton** (0:26)
Don't blame me, I told him 330, then he tried to break. These guys don't do anything I ask.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:34)
It's my fault.

**Chris McMonigle** (0:35)
They said that, they're like, we just blame the producers. We just blame the producers?

**SPEAKER_3** (0:39)
Yeah, that's what they always say.

**Craig Carton** (0:40)
Yeah, that's kind of how it works. That's how it's always worked from the dawning of time.
Chernoff, Spitz, all the years I worked on the other side, it's always, the blame always goes over there.

**Chris McMonigle** (0:53)
You just put it on the rise, because then they're never going to go say anything to you guys anyway.

**Craig Carton** (0:56)
Right, exactly right, but it doesn't work. You're the one who gets yelled at. You have to hear it.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:58)
Oh, I don't want to hear it.

**Craig Carton** (1:00)
You got to be better.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:02)
You should think about it on the break.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:04)
Yeah.

**Craig Carton** (1:05)
Just go in there and turn the microphone off if you have to.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:08)
Okay.

**Craig Carton** (1:08)
Can you tell Mike to read that read, please?
Oh, my God. Are we doing another Kentucky Derby show?
Does he have to talk about every race? 3.30. I shouldn't have done that. 3.30. McMonigle here with you on The Carton Show. Got you all the way till 7 o'clock. High SMY. They join us early today and they'll say goodbye early today at 5.30. But it's still two hours. That's how it works. 888-808-1019. Tony Romo put out a statement. Now, the end of it, I guess, is the most important. I'm not going to read you the entire statement, but he does confirm that he is attempting, at some point, will attempt to return to CBS. But Tony Romo pretty much put out a statement talking about his life in football and in his playing career and the back injuries he's had and multiple back surgeries, I'll quote, in and out, multiple back surgeries ended my career earlier than I had expected and left me with constant debilitating pain. That pain led to a dependence on pain medication, and my efforts to get off those medications led to an over reliance on alcohol.
As I've taught my three sons, when you fall short, you stand up and take full responsibility. So he takes full responsibility. He does not use that as an excuse, just to let us know what he's going through. The past month has been difficult for him, but he's working closely with doctors to address his health.
And as he turns his attention to his health family, and in time his return to CBS, he kindly asks for privacy during this period. So he comes out and he acknowledges that he's been over reliant on alcohol in a way to try and avoid taking as much pain medication as he was taking due to back injuries he occurred during his NFL career. So, look, it's a story very relatable and for lack of a better term, believable. So many NFL players, we... Reports coming out that, what's the percentage of current NFL players that might have the beginnings of CTE? I just saw a story about that. It's like 25%. We understand football is a dangerous game. That's why I never begrudge an NFL player holding out or asking for more money. I'll never... I'd like to think that even if it was at the core of my team and it was going to impact my team and hurt my team, which I'm sure there have been certain instances where it has, I will never begrudge an NFL player looking to make sure they get what they deem their value to be because this is a dangerous sport. Plain and simple, it's a dangerous sport. They put their lives in their hands out there and they put the rest of their lives and living comfortable and free of issues like Tony Romo is talking about.
It's a brutal game. And so if they want to get paid during it, contracts aren't guaranteed. If you have value and you have the ability to demand it, if you have that leverage, then I never will begrudge an NFL player trying to get as much money as they deem fit. With Tony dealing with this, I mean, I think everyone deserves a second chance. I'd be surprised and quite honestly, I'm surprised he didn't just walk away. Because in listening to Tony Romo over the last handful of years, it's felt like, and some of the criticism of him has been, it doesn't sound like he's up on the game and into it as much as he was when he first started. Like when he first started, he was dissecting every play and was on top of everything. And whether it's a choice to not be that anymore or he's just incapable of it as he gets further and further away from being inside the NFL and inside NFL offenses, or if it's just his desire to be on top of it as much has left him and waned, I don't know. But I would have thought and I'm, I still feel I'd be surprised if CBS wants him back. Like I would think, right, the suspension, everything or the time off, whatever you want to call it, like he makes $17 million a year.